Some Game Themes
Purdue opens its 125th season of football against Eastern Kentucky ... Boilermaker head coach Danny Hope squares off against his alma mater and the school he led on gridiron for five seasons as the head coach ... after enduring a slew of injuries the last two seasons, Purdue not only has one returning quarter back with starting experience, but three in Caleb TerBush, Robert Marve and Rob Henry ... defensive tackle Kawann Short begins his final campaign at Purdue in hopes of an All-American type year ... Purdue will need to find someone (or someones) to replace the leg of kicker Carson Wiggs.

Purdue vs. Eastern Kentucky Series Information
Series record: First Meeting
Purdue points: 0
Eastern Kentucky points: 0
Series record in West Lafayette: First Meeting
In Ross-Ade Stadium: First Meeting
Series record in Richmond: N/A
In Roy Kidd Stadium: N/A
Games decided by 3 points or less: First Meeting
Games decided by 7 points or less: First Meeting
Longest Purdue win streak: First Meeting
Longest Eastern Kentucky win streak: First Meeting
Current streak: First Meeting
Largest Purdue victory: First Meeting
Largest Eastern Kentucky victory: First Meeting
Last Purdue home victory: First Meeting
Last Purdue road victory: First Meeting
Last Eastern Kentucky victory: First Meeting
Last Eastern Kentucky road victory: First Meeting

This Date in Boilermaker History
Purdue is 1-0 all-time on Sept. 1. In 2007, Joe Tiller led the Boilermakers to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, and defeated the Rockets 52-24 in his penultimate season as head coach. Purdue posted a balanced offense, passing for 244 yards and rushing for an identical mark in the game. The victory was one of eight enjoyed by the Boilermakers that season.

Season Openers
Purdue is 73-45-6 (.613) overall in its first game of the season ... The Boilermakers have won their last seven straight games when opening a season at home ... Purdue won a thrilling opener against Middle Tennessee last season, with Antavian Edison hauling in a go-ahead touchdown pass from Caleb TerBush with 49 seconds remaining and Ricardo Allen blocking a potential game-tying field goal as time expired.

Head Coach Danny Hope
Head coach Danny Hope enters his fourth season at the helm of the Boilermaker program and his 10th overall at Purdue. He sports a 51-43 career record, including his first bowl victory in last season's Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.

Pretty Rude For a First Time Meeting
Purdue will take on Eastern Kentucky on the gridiron for the first time in school history. The Boilermakers have been pretty unkind to its opposition in the inaugural meeting, posting a 81-29-3 record (.730) against 113 different teams.

Iron Men
The defensive side of the ball has seen tackle Kawann Short and cornerbacks Ricardo Allen and Josh Johnson as a mainstays in the starting lineup. Short has started all 37 games in his Purdue career, while Allen has started 25 consecutive games and Johnson 23. Offensively, quarterback Caleb TerBush has started 13 straight games and tackle Trevor Foy has nine consecutive starts.

Quarterbacks Aplenty
Purdue is the lone Football Bowl Subdivision team with four players on the roster that have started at least one game at quarterback. In fact, none of the 119 other FBS schools have more than two players on their roster to have started under center. Robert Marve has started 15 career games (11 at Miami, four at Purdue), Caleb TerBush started all 13 games for the Boilermakers last season, Rob Henry started seven games in 2010 and Sean Robinson, now a linebacker, has one career start.

Instant Info For Game Week
Fans looking for all information regarding all the fun surrounding campus on game week now have a one-stop spot to find it all. Purdue has established the "Boilermaker Depot"website with all the comings and goings on campus. It can be accessed by going to http://www.purdue.edu/purdue/boilermakerDepot/.

They're Watching You
Defensive tackle Kawann Short, a preseason All-America pick by Sports Illustrated, has been named to the watch lists for the Lott Trophy, the Bednarik Award, the Outland Trophy, the Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award. A "Big Ten Player to Watch" by the conference's media, Short enters his final season at Purdue 15th all-time in school history in tackles for loss (33.5) and sacks (12.5). He is coming off a junior year that saw him finish with career highs in tackles (54), tackles for loss (17.0) and sacks (6.5). He led Purdue in both TFLs and sacks in 2011.

They're Watching You Too
Cornerback Ricardo Allen was named to the Jim Thorpe Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch lists over the summer. Allen led Purdue with three interceptions in 2011, including one for a touchdown against Minnesota on Oct. 8. He finished fourth for Purdue with 81 total tackles in 2011, including 3.0 for losses, and had seven passes defended ... Joining Allen and Short on the preseason awards circuit was Raheem Mostert. The Football Bowl Subdivision kickoff return average leader as a true freshman in 2011, Mostert was named to the watch list for inaugural Jet Award. Named for Johnny "The Jet" Rogers, the award will be presented to the top return man in the nation.

EKU Connections
Purdue head coach Danny Hope is an Eastern Kentucky alum, played for the Colonels from 1977 through 1980 and was the head coach at EKU from 2003 through 2007, guiding them to a 35-22 overall record and a 32-8 mark in OVC games. Hope won a Division I-AA national title as a player in 1979. Offensive line coach Shawn Clark and outside linebackers coach Donn Landholm served on Coach Hope's staff at EKU and joined him in West Lafayette in 2009.

Breezing Along
Wide receiver Antavian Edison, whose nickname is `Breeze", has caught at least one pass in 21 consecutive games. During the streak, which dates to Oct. 9, 2010, Edison has caught 72 passes for 885 yards and seven touchdowns.

New Faces
The Purdue coaching staff added three fresh faces during the offseason, all on the defensive side of the ball. Coordinator/linebackers coach Tim Tibesar joined the Purdue staff after spending three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Montreal Alouettes. Defensive backs coach Greg Burns came to Purdue after spending four seasons at Arizona State. He helped USC win national championships in 2003 and 2004. Line coach Kevin Wolthausen has helped coach 17 different schools to postseason games, including four Rose Bowls, and has worked in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.

Kicking It
Replacing the leg of Carson Wiggs, the most accurate kicker and the third-highest point scorer in school history, will fall into the hands of a trio of youngsters. True freshmen Paul Griggs and Thomas Meadows, along with redshirt freshman Sam McCartney, are all vying to be the guy to do so. Wiggs finished his career with the five longest field goals in school history, while connecting on 56 of 76 career attempts, a 73.7 percent accuracy rate.

Replacing Ralph
Fifth-year senior Ralph Bolden suffered his third major knee injury in last season's Old Oaken Bucket Game against Indiana. The Folkston, Ga., native is diligently rehabbing in an effort to return to action at some point this season. Until he's available, offensive coordinator Gary Nord has shown he's willing to give carries to any number of players. Last season, Purdue saw 16 different players with at least one carry for the year. Some names to keep in mind include senior Akeem Shavers, who was named the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl MVP after rushing for 149 yards on 22 carrers against Western Michigan. He finished his first season at Purdue with 519 yards on 111 carries and six touchdowns. Sophomore Akeem Hunt filled in after Bolden got hurt against the Hossiers, rushing for an even 100 yards on merely 10 carries in Bloomington. Brandon Cottom, a bruising 258-pound runner, will return to action after suffering a knee injury of his own late last season. Even guys listed as wide receivers will see action in the backfield, including Atavian Edison and Raheem Mostert.

Depth Along the D-Line
Headlined by All-America candidate at tackle Kawann Short, the defensive line at Purdue is a deep and talented group. Joining Short inside is two-year starters Bruce Gaston and Brandon Taylor, redshirt freshman Michael Rouse III and true freshman Ryan Watson, whom Coach Hope has said great things about recently. At the end positions, Ryan Russell took over the starting spot on one side as a redshirt freshman last season, and has done nothing but improve since. On the other end Robert Maci will bounce from end to outside linebacker this season, which will provide a chance for junior Ryan Isaac (who can also slide inside at tackle), sophomore Jalani Phillips and junior college transfer Greg Latta.

Back at Backer
The loss of last season's leading tackler, Joe Holland, to graduation will certainly sting at linebacker, but the cupboard isn't exactly bare either. Returning this season are Dwayne Beckford and Will Lucas. Beckford a three-year starter at the position has appeared in 36 career games, while Lucas has appeared in all 25 games of his two-year career with 13 starts. As noted above, Robert Maci will play some at outside linebacker as well.

Dynamic Duo at Cornerback
Josh John and Ricardo Allen will team up in the defensive back field as the starting corners for a third straight season. Johnson is coming off a junior season in 2011 that saw him finish with a career-high 64 tackles, including 4.5 for losses, two interceptions, a fumble forced and a team-high nine PBUs. On the other side, Allen led Purdue with three interceptions, including one for his third career return for a touchdown, `finished fourth for Purdue with 81 total tackles in 2011, including 3.0 for losses, and had seven passes defended

Last Season
In 2011, the Boilermakers returned to the postseason for the first time since 2007 and won the ninth bowl game in school history with a 37-32 victory over Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Last season featured a victory over nationally ranked Illinois, an overtime win against Ohio State, an Old Oaken Bucket triumph over Indiana and the bowl championship.